I started with a sketch of the layout (sorry, no fancy drafting software here ), and worked out the dimensions based on the green felt I’d bought by the metre at my local craft chain. (For some reason, I’m working in inches here although I grew up with metric system – go figure!)

Mark the layout from the sketch onto the felt with chalk and cut around the outside.

Cut out long black strips approximately 2 inches wide for the roads (I went with straight roads rather than curvy roads for simplicity, but go crazy with what suits you!). Arrange on the play mat and glue in place. Cut out 1/2 inch wide strips of white felt for the centre lines on the road, and glue in place. (Sorry, no progress photos here – I’m sure you can imagine!)

Cut out various buildings etc from different coloured felt pieces and glue in place (when you’re happy with the layout). The play mat will fold up better if you don’t have anything stuck across the fold lines (which I had marked out in chalk).

I put way too much thought in the layout – Police station as you come into town (as a warning to visitors), petrol station as you leave town, can’t have the hospital next to the construction site (although I’m not sure next to a zoo is that good!), car park across the road from the shops, farm on the edge of town and on and on I went…

Here are some photos of the details:

Train Station and Lake

Hospital with Helipad

Zoo

Police Station

Construction Site

Fire and Petrol (Gas) Stations

Swimming Pool

Farm and Playground

Supermarket (Coles) and Hardware Store (Bunnings)

Row of houses

Car park

Garden

I didn’t make templates for any of these, but you should be able to work them out from the pictures. If you’d like any more details or a sketch or two, let me know in the comments or send me an email. I hand cut everything with sewing shears and a craft knife (no fancy cutting machine here!). I used string for the chains on the swing and marked the clock on the train station with a regular ball point pen. Everything else I just cut straight from the felt, or drew on with a quilt chalk pen or disappearing fabric marker before cutting.

A few tips: have a container to put your felt scraps into where you are working and another container for pieces to small to use. I was constantly trimming and those little pieces went everywhere! Also, don’t trim over another piece of felt – that wonderful property of felt sticking to itself is a big nuisance if you do! (Trust me, I made both these mistakes more than once!)

Make cuts along each side of the play mat for the sections that fold up.

That is completely awesome!!! I’m sure even my daughter would enjoy it! I wish I could get felt by the yard here in Malaysia, but I don’t think I can… I wonder if it would work with another type of fabric for the outside

I love this! I’d like to share it on my website that features free patterns and tutorials for crafting with felt, if you wouldn’t mind? I also added your button to my site.http://www.redroofpatterns.com

It depends on the felt and the glue you use. I’d recommend spot cleaning only (too much time and effort goes into making one of these to risk it getting destroyed in the wash!). Hope this helps. I’d love to see a photo of your finished playmat!

Stumbled across this the other day as I was looking for inspiration for a felt car mat. Wish I’d seen it before I’d started mine, as mine doesn’t fold into this nifty house, it just rolls up. But your ideas and layout are awesome! Thanks for the inspiration!!

Fantastic. A suggestion. Why not make the pattern up as a PDF and sell it on Craftsy.com as a PDF pattern. Or as a paper or PDF pattern on etsy.com
I’m sure me there would be many grandmas like myself who would be dying to make it.
Anne

Thanks for the suggestion, Anne! I’ll look into it, but it would take me some time to get the format right for a pdf. It’s definitely something I’d like to do. Too many ideas, too little time (and two small kids)!

Just started making 1 out of 2 for Christmas gifts for my nephews. So far all is well. I didn’t realize how time consuming cutting the felt town would be. I’m hoping the second one will go a little quicker. Thank you for posting & for your easy to follow directions.

It took me months to finish mine! But then, I was just pottering when I could find time. You can choose how much detail you put into the town, and I went totally over the top. Thanks for letting me know you’re using the tutorial. I’d love to see photos of the finished product.

The green felt was the standard acrylic felt my local fabric store sells on the bolt, maybe 2mm thick. It’s not the stiff kind, but having the two layers stuck together makes it stand up reasonably well. I hope you have fun making one for your nephew. I’d love to see pictures!

Hi Shaineze, I’m so glad you found my tutorial helpful. Thank you for letting me know. I hope your brother loves his play mat (I know my son still loves his). You’re a sweet sister to make one for him!

OMG I just came across this and since my son is into playing with his cars and driving them all over the apartment – the walls, chairs etc I am going to try and do this. I love how you didn’t use any fancy cutting stuff etc. I’m off to Michaels today 🙂 Thanks so much for this. Hope I can do it.

I am so grateful you posted this wonderful mat. I am making one now for my little baby Max, he loves cars and I am sure he will love it. this is a wonderful idea and I never seen one before. I absolutely loved it at first sight! thanks for sharing and I will send you some pictures so you can see my project.

This car play mat house is genius! I love how everything is put together to form a house and laid down to form a play mat for kids. Little boys will definitely be thrilled about this! I featured your project in my blog because I so love it! http://www.plushiepatterns.com/felt-car-play-mat-house/ Thanks a lot for sharing!

I made one based on your tutorial, and have another in the making. The one I made was for my niece and has a ‘my little pony’ theme on the inside. The other ne, I plan on making similar to the one you have here for my son and his cars. I would love to share a picture if you are interested. Let me know.

Thanks for the extremely helpful tutorial here. The house/mat turned out great and everyone loved it.

Trackbacks

[…] I found this easy and creative play house that opens to a mat on CookCleanCraft. Felt, scissors, some glue, a little velcro, and a touch of sewing and you’ve got a handy take anyway play house. It’s got plenty of space to carry cars, dolls, and other toys. As an added bonus, it’s big enough to use as additional storage when not in use. The tutorial is laid out step-by-step and can be easily made into any neighborhood you want. You can find this fabulous, fun idea at […]

[…] Thankfully, we had all the stuff we would need right at home. Took 2 days to finish it. You can find the original tutorial right here: http://cookcleancraft.com/2009/01/tutorial-felt-car-play-mathouse/ […]